July 3rd, 6:21pm
Expo3 Convention Center
Conference Room No. 13 - Backstage
"Not trying to evade the police, I trust?"
Edgeworth and Maya had searched every inch of Capsul's area at the convention center before coming backstage. This company's backstage area was far smaller than Odetnim's, with poor lighting and plenty of hiding spaces. They'd almost not seen her.
"Of course not. I'm not so foolish. I merely wanted quiet. A place to do my work," she held up her notebook for emphasis, "in peace. These dialogue drafts aren't going to write themselves. I don't know which ones are going to be used, so I'm writing extra cases for all of them. Every game."
"For what reason do you feel the need to write so far ahead?" Edgeworth wanted to see if the writer would confirm it without prompting. The less he had to pit people and their testimonies against each other, the better. That was the sentiment he was beginning to feel for the case.
"Because after the first game was launched, I was under the mistaken impression that I was getting a break. Then I find out the game was such a success that we're having a sequel coming out in under a year, and that I'm the last person in the company to know." Riter's eyes were wild. "I don't want to be surprised again, so this time, I'm going to have the jump on them." She paused. "...Why am I telling you this?" She was onto him now. "Don't you have an investigation to be running?
"I do," Edgeworth confirmed. "An investigation in which I was forced to waste precious time searching for you. Why don't you wait with everyone else?"
"...What do you want?"
"Your friend Lyra Pitch." Maya gave it away. "She told us some things after we talked to her. They were about you."
"Lyra has an eavesdropping problem." Her response was biting. But she did put her pen down. "What is she saying to you now?"
"She told us that Mr. Richards, um, harassed you," Maya blurted out. Blunt as ever, it seemed. "Is it true?"
She didn't spend any time denying it. "I wasn't special. He did it to every girl he considered beneath him… which is pretty much every woman in existence. It wasn't anything major. Just… irritating. Not that anyone cares either way." Against all odds, the woman laughed. "Now, did Lyra also mention that I was handling it in a professional manner, or did she leave that out? And why does any of this matter?"
"She told us you were planning your resignation, yes." Edgeworth replied, his response guarded. "Was your strained professional relationship with the victim why you were reluctant to meet with him before the conference today?"
Riter picked up her pen again. "...A lazy, overconfident rival with an unfounded personal grudge. A rival who believes he is the hero, only to end the game as a villain. Who spends his last days fighting for others… to save himself." Now she was outright ignoring them. "Would it set a bad example for the younger players if he were addicted to cigars? Perhaps I should use a more socially acceptable vice…"
"Miss Riter, if we can confirm you never met with the victim, we'll be done with you. But as things stand, this could be seen as motive."
That caught her attention. She immediately fell silent upon hearing Edgeworth's words. "If I never met with Mr. Richards… you will let me go and you won't have to question me anymore?" Riter lost her confidence in asking the question, something that Edgeworth picked up on. "Well, I promise I didn't. I didn't do it to avoid him. That would be incredibly unprofessional. It's like I told you… I told you from the beginning. I was late. That's all it was."
She seems nervous all of a sudden. But why? Shouldn't she be eager to be exonerated?
"Miss Riter, you appear concerned. Why is that?" Edgeworth didn't know if he was going to like the answer to that question.
She shook her head. "I'm just… stressed about work. There's always been so much to do, and now everything is uncertain. I work so hard and so fast, but in the end... will any of it be fruitful? Or will it unravel nonetheless?" Riter's answer was not what Edgeworth wanted to hear, but Edgeworth was able to get an idea from it. He decided now would be as good of a time as any, to ask the question.
"Miss Riter, do you know what the future holds for Capsul, now that Mr. Richards is dead? Will the company shut down, or…?"
Just the question was enough to make the writer freeze, notebook and pen falling from her hands. Her eyes didn't seem to see; her ears heard nothing as well. It was as if the game in her head had paused, and Edgeworth didn't know how to resume it.
"Miss Riter? Are you listening?" Riter looked to the prosecutor, but at first remained silent. Perhaps she didn't know what she wanted to say at first, but when the words came to her mind, she spoke her reply, ever so softly. It almost went unheard by the pair of investigators.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?" Maya questioned. Edgeworth echoed the sentiment. The prosecutor thought she might have at least had an idea of the direction Capsul would go in, if she was so intent on writing out plans for Turnabout Lawyers games. Why would she spend so much time writing new games that may never see the light?
"No. Whoever is supposed to inherit the company from Mr. Richards… he didn't disclose such information with the staff. He was still fairly young. He probably didn't think he needed to… or that we just didn't need to know. It's not like he has heirs. And Capsul is not a publicly traded company, so…" she shrugged. "Who knows?"
Is she telling us the truth? Does she really not know?
Before Edgeworth could question her further, a police officer burst onto the scene. He was panting. "Prosecutor Edgeworth! We've been searching everywhere for you."
They'd gone looking for him? What was going on? "What's wrong, officer? Did something go wrong?"
"The private investigator… that man who won't leave us alone…"
"Cachè?" Edgeworth was worried that he knew where this was going. "What about him?"
"He's back, sir. He saying... he knows everything there is to know about this case."
July 3rd, 6:39pm
Expo3 Convention Center
Conference Room No. 13
Edgeworth, Maya, and Riter had all rushed to the scene. There, they were met with the sight of Joseph Cachè, Allen Lite, and… a pushcart?
Edgeworth looked at the cart, thoughts filling with impending dread. He recalled what the private investigator had said to him as he was leaving this very conference room:
"...I'm going to investigate why the body was moved to the Odetnim conference room. I would think it's a better use of my time than remaining here."
It looked like he knew exactly where Cachè was going with this. Cachè caught onto the fact and smiled. "Mr. Edgeworth. We meet again. I'm not surprised to see you're still investigating. This case is full of tricks that would stump any young prosecutor."
Is he implying that I lack experience? First the PI insulted Edgeworth's career as a prosecutor, now he was insinuating the man lacked one? "Where did you find the cart, Mr. Cachè? And why bring Mr. Lite with you? I didn't even know he was still in the building."
"I caught him trying to leave," Cachè admitted, a strangely good-natured twinkle in his eye. "He and I had a long chat. At first, I wasn't sure it was going to pay off. But then… I found this." The older man gestured to the pushcart. It was empty, save a large piece of blank paper. "I performed some rudimentary tests on my own, but by all means, have your labbies check it over. I don't want you to have any reason to doubt my case."
A few members of forensics took steps toward the cart, but Edgeworth stopped them with a hand. He wanted to speak with Mr. Cachè first.
The former prosecutor in him was shining through now. Edgeworth would have to be a fool to miss it. Perhaps he ought to remind the man of something.
"This from the same man who spent his first few hours in the investigation trying to convince me a ten year old was the culprit?" Edgeworth chuckled, mostly for show. "As if the allegations ever held water in the first place, but I had my own long chat with the young Hackins. One that ended with me releasing him to the custody of his mother."
"I don't blame you for being skeptical, Mr. Edgeworth, and I agree the initial suspicion around the boy has cleared away. I never wanted to suspect them, and now I don't have to. Especially since I have found a more likely chain of events."
"Oh really? And what might that be?"
Cachè sighed. "...I really don't want you to doubt me again, but I can see that my word as a critic and a civilian mean ultimately little to you. So for that reason, I want you to come to the conclusion that I did the same way I reached it. First through testimony… and then through evidence."
He's baiting me. Whatever he has, he wants to make sure I'm utterly unable to refute him. I'll have to watch my thoughts, and hope that my logic doesn't steer us away from the truth.
So Edgeworth maintained his good humor, but objected all the same. "You say you have testimony for me first? Well, I've heard enough testimony. At this stage of the investigation, I'd much rather see some evidence." With that, he motioned for the forensics crew to begin their analysis.
I just hope Mr. Cachè's 'tests' didn't contaminate it. There's a chance he just rendered the evidence inadmissible in court. You'd think a former prosecutor would know that. Edgeworth hoped the man had been careful. For everyone's sake.
"And evidence will follow in due time, Mr. Edgeworth. I'm sure your officers will be done soon." Cachè didn't give anything away. His face was inscrutable. "But that's not what I started with, and nor will it be what you start with. Mr. Lite, if you would."
"Is this really necessary?" The young vlogger spoke up for the first time in the encounter. "I already told you everything."
"And now you can tell the police. Go on."
What more could this man possibly have to say? I best listen carefully.
"I'm not sure I like this…" Maya echoed his sentiments. But neither one continued to speak when the testimony began.
-Witness Testimony-
"Before the Odetnim Conference"
"I arrived to the Odetnim conference room a few minutes early. I wanted to be in the best position to stream the presentation.
"They hadn't put up all their curtains yet, so I could see backstage.
"The crew were hanging posters, but they seemed to be missing a few, because they left some ropes bare.
"I couldn't see the posters themselves from that far away, so I didn't know they had The Steel Samurai's cover art on them.
"If I'd known, I totally would have filmed that. I could have posted the pics with deets before the conference even started."
Edgeworth wasn't sure what he was supposed to get out of this testimony, but he went ahead nonetheless. "And this is exactly what you told Mr. Cachè when he talked with you? You haven't changed your statement since then in any way?"
"Nah, man. I don't lie to real cops." He cocked his head towards Cachè. "This guy, maybe, but-"
"Are you accusing me of witness tampering?" Cachè cut Lite off, looking mildly offended. "I don't have a reputation for that, and for good reason. Is it that hard to believe you and I want the same thing?"
"I had to be sure." Edgeworth hated being led around like this. But if he wanted to see whatever hand Cachè was clutching to his chest, he had to play along. Worse comes to worse, he arrests Cachè for obstruction. Surely the PI had realized Edgeworth could do that?
"I think we're supposed to find a contradiction, here," Maya whispered from beside him, standing like they were behind a bench. "But where is it?"
"I may have something in mind," Edgeworth mumbled back before turning to Lite. "Mr. Lite, I am ready to cross examine you. Please repeat your testimony."
Before they could start, Lite had some mumbling of his own. "How many times do I have to play this game? It isn't even fun…"
-Cross-Examination-
"Before the Odetnim Conference"
"I arrived to the Odetnim conference room a few minutes early. I wanted to be in the best position to be shooting my video.
"They hadn't put up all their curtains yet, so I could see backstage."
"HOLD IT! You could see backstage before the conference? How much of it was visible?"
"Not all of it, I guess. I couldn't see the far sides from where I was. But the curtain that separates stage from backstage? That wasn't put up until a couple minutes before. They had it up when the real crowd came pouring in."
Did all the gaming companies at this convention wait until the last second to act? That… wasn't as unbelievable as Edgeworth had previously thought.
"So Mr. Lite, would you say you had a pretty good view of what was happening up there?"
The young blonde nodded. "I was a little far away at that time, but yeah. I would have noticed someone hanging a body on one of the ropes."
"That's… not what I was asking, Mr. Lite." Is that what Mr. Cachè questioned him about? "Please, continue."
"..." Cachè remained silent throughout the encounter. What was he waiting for?
"The crew were hanging posters, but they seemed to be missing a few, because they left some ropes bare."
Ah, this must be it. But what's so notable about… never mind, Edgeworth thought before shouting "OBJECTION!"
"And here we are again," Lite crossed his arms, waiting for the inevitable.
Edgeworth didn't hear him, however. He had been flipping though his Organizer, trying to find the page with "Steel Samurai Banners" written across it. "Mr. Lite, you claim that several stage ropes were left bare before the conference began, but when I arrived at the crime scene, every rope had a poster on it. Every rope except one."
"Yeah, I know that. I was there when they lowered them too, remember? Not to mention this guy reminded me." Lite cocked his head towards Cachè.
Ah, so that was the contradiction I was supposed to find here. Edgeworth wasn't sure if that was good news or bad. But it did allow him to advance to the next round.
"So now we've established an important fact: the body, as well as several posters, weren't hung until right as Odetnim's conference was starting." Cachè summarized, then looked at Edgeworth. "Would you agree with my assessment?"
"...I suppose." It was as though Edgeworth were being led into a trap, not unlike one he'd set for defense attorneys and suspects in the past. It did not feel good to have the roles reversed. "What are you driving at, Mr. Cachè? We already suspected the body was moved into position around this timeframe. The Odetnim employees confirmed this hours ago."
"Perhaps, but the information about the posters is new. And that is where this trolley comes in. Part one, at least."
"You're saying it carried posters for Odetnim?" Edgeworth wasn't sure he bought it. "Why an entire pushcart?"
"There were a lot of very large posters. Odetnim had to bring in some of their own ropes as well," Cachè explained. "The employees had unloaded the cart in their own staff room, then left it outside the door. When they went to get the last load out roughly an hour before their conference, it was gone."
-"Odetnim's Pushcart" added to Organizer-
-Large Cart added to Logic-
"And you know this… how? Did you find the cart there?"
"No, I asked a staff member as they were leaving. They seemed to think I was the detective in charge of this case. It was advantageous, to say the-" Cachè was cut off with the sound of a door opening.
"I printed them, sir! I have the proof you need that…" Pitch began her announcement excited. Then she noticed all the eyes on her. "Oh. Well, here it is."
She'd returned alone. Edgeworth could only assume that meant the officer he'd sent was still there.
He was lucky to have such a large force at his command. It reminded him of an Interpol agent he'd once met.
"Thank you, Miss Pitch." Edgeworth accepted the papers graciously. He scanned them briefly, then filed them away in his Organizer.
-"Pitch's Emails" added to Organizer-
"Miss… Pitch, was it? How good of you to join us," Cachè greeted the younger lady politely, the twinkle back in his eye. "I think you'll find our discussion rather interesting."
Pitch paused. "...Is that so, sir? What are you discussing here?"
"We were just talking about how Odetnim brought a large trolley to the convention. One that went missing an hour before their conference."
Pitch nodded, then stopped. Her eyes had landed on the item in question. "I see. Seems like an odd discussion to be having in the middle of a… Amy!" And with that, her train of thought derailed. "You're back!"
"Hm?" Clearly, the writer hadn't been listening.
Odd. The last time Edgeworth had glanced in her direction, she'd been watching intently while Lite testified.
"Now that we have everyone here, I think it's time we moved to the second part of our young man's testimony. Mr. Lite, what else did you tell me after I found the trolley?"
Lite looked up from his phone. "You sure you need me here, man? You seem real good at explaining this yourself."
"I want this prosecutor here to hear exactly what I heard and see exactly what I saw when I came to my conclusion. That way when he comes to the same one, he won't feel the need to argue with me. Your second testimony, if you would."
Lite rolled his eyes and shoved his phone back into his pocket. His testimony began without another word.
-Witness Testimony-
"When I Saw the Cart"
"I was pacing around outside the Odetnim room once I'd picked my spot. Thought it would look cooler if I walked in with everyone else.
"While I was out there, I saw some people pushing the cart this guy has. Looked like they were having trouble with it.
"It was kinda weird, actually. The cart only had a roll of posters on it, plus a few on top.
"I couldn't see what the posters were for. The blank side was facing out in the roll."
If Edgeworth were to wager a guess, he would say the purpose of this testimony differed from that of the first. There was nothing Edgeworth could see in way of a direct contradiction, so that meant he would have to feel around. See how far he could push Lite before he said something useful. Or dropped the charade entirely.
"We're almost there. What Cachè wants us to know… I think we can guess what it is already, don't you?" Maya was surprisingly helpful when it came to dissecting testimonies like this. Edgeworth supposed it fit better with her previous experience than investigating had earlier.
"I agree, Miss Fey, but there seems to be one detail he's guarding quite carefully. A detail I'm going to need if I want to solve this case." I wonder… if I were to ask Lite outright, would he tell me? I suppose there's no harm in trying.
So Edgeworth steeled himself, then announced he was ready. "Please repeat your testimony, Mr. Lite."
"That's it. Next time some police try and talk to me, I'm ignoring them. I can't get video, no audio… I can't even make a decent tweet out of this! I just can't even!" Lite complained, but he did what he was told.
-Cross-Examination-
"When I Saw the Cart"
"I was pacing around outside the Odetnim room once I'd picked my spot. Thought it would look cooler if I walked in with everyone else."
"HOLD IT! Why did you leave the room after choosing your place? How would it look 'cooler', exactly?"
"My video, you nitwit! Videos uploaded to the SpotLite channel might look effortless, but they take a serious amount of preparation. You don't get six figure subscription numbers by fooling around in a basement." The young man looked proud of himself. "You don't get them by looking like a half dead troll either."
"Oh wow! You finally passed a hundred thousand subscribers?" Maya asked, eyes wide. "Congrats!"
"Heh. Thanks, sweetie." He smiled to himself for a minute, then frowned. "Crap, where was I?"
"You saw the cart outside the Odetnim room," Cachè reminded the online personality. "And what else did you notice about it?"
"Oh, right…
"While I was out there, I saw some people pushing the cart this guy has. Looked like they were having trouble with it."
"HOLD IT! Mr. Lite, would you elaborate on your statement, please?"
"Huh? How so?"
Hmm… there are a couple directions I can take this line of questioning. Which should I aim for?
-Who was pushing it?
-Where were they going?
-Why didn't you offer to help them?
Edgeworth chose the obvious route. "Who were these people you saw pushing the cart?"
Lite glanced over at Cachè, nervous. "Well, I didn't know their names at the time, but-"
"OBJECTION!" Cachè cut him off. "We aren't to that part of the investigation yet. I didn't discover that information until the last second, and neither will you. Ask something else."
That seemed like an awfully arbitrary reason for the witness not to answer, but Lite was cooperating with Cachè, at least for the time being. What should I do?
-Press on
-Leave it alone for now
Edgeworth chose to ask a different question. "Could you tell me where the mystery individuals were taking the cart, at least?"
"Well, I assumed they were taking it into the Odetnim conference room, but they didn't take the audience entrance. They looped around into a staff hallway and probably went backstage."
"And what led you to that assumption, Mr. Lite?"
The blonde looked at him like he was the dumbest man alive. "My last testimony, maybe? I saw the Odetnim people were short on posters. Now I see people carrying a cart with some more posters. Doesn't take much to put two and two together."
"Come on, Mr. Edgeworth! Use those Logic powers you love so much." Maya teased, a big smile on her face.
Edgeworth sighed, shaking it off. How I miss Gumshoe. "Very well. If you would tell me more about the posters that were on this cart?"
"Sure thing." His tone could not be more sarcastic.
"It was kinda weird, actually. The cart only had a roll of posters on it, plus a few on top."
"HOLD IT! If that was all they were carrying on the cart, why would it be difficult for someone to operate it? Did the cart have a loose wheel, perhaps?"
Cachè chuckled. "Check for yourself and answer your own question, this time. What else besides large papers could have been moved with this trolley?"
He wanted Edgeworth to say it first. To point out what everyone in the room must be thinking by now. That PI knew exactly what the cart was used for, but he wasn't about to confirm Edgeworth's suspicions. Edgeworth had to face them all for himself.
"Forensics!" The prosecutor waited as they all turned to look at him. "What have you found so far?"
"Sir!" One of the investigators saluted him. "The trolley appears to be in full working order, with a single Steel Samurai poster facing down on top of it. We are checking the whole thing for fingerprints and bloodstains now."
"No. Don't check for any blood," Edgeworth ordered. "The victim was strangled to death, and did not appear to have externally bled anywhere. As such, performing such a check would be useless. Instead, continue looking for fingerprints and add a search for all forms of DNA."
"Yes, sir!" Another salute. And with that, the forensics guy got back to his work.
"See? No loose wheels." Cachè was probably the only person here who was in a good mood. "And judging by the nature of your requests, I think you know what the next step is here. What was really on the cart when Mr. Lite saw it?"
The man was right. It was time Edgeworth put the pieces of that puzzle together. Do I have what I need? Surely, at this point, I do.
Allow me to think… a Large Cart belonging to Odetnim was found by Cachè. I admit, this is a possible explanation for the Body Maneuvers. As it turned out, the two pieces of Logic were a natural pair.
"So the cart was used to transport the body from the crime scene to where it was found?" Edgeworth accepted the possibility, shrugging. "That's simple enough."
-Cart's True Contents added to Logic-
And with that possibility beginning to gain ground, I may be able to tie up another thread of Logic here and now. If the Cart's True Contents weren't brought in until later, it would explain the Clean Backstage. Or at least, why no one saw or heard anything. Another match.
"I see. This is your answer to how the body was moved, Mr. Cachè? I'll admit the cart looks big enough to haul a body, but would that not attract an undue amount of attention?"
The older male shook his head. "Not if you remember the other part of our witness's testimony. He saw, and I quote, 'a roll of posters', plus a few on top. I think you know what I'm suggesting here."
Edgeworth froze. He had to confirm what he was hearing before he accepted it. "You're saying someone knew Odetnim had this cart, stole it, murdered the victim at the unknown crime scene, rolled his body up in posters, and brought everything with them to the Odetnim conference room backstage for the body reveal setup?" Edgeworth was summarizing, thoughts flying a mile per minute. "That's… you would have to have one of the posters Richards was wrapped in to prove that. What did you do, test every poster in the conference room for…"
"Saliva." Cachè filled in the blanks for him. "I had no way of confirming it was the victim's with my means, but I figured the presence itself would be out of place on such an item. I did check every poster in the conference room, actually, but none had any more than a trace. I was beginning to worry that my theory was off base, but then," he gestured to the poster laying atop the pushcart, "I went back to where I'd found the trolley: a dumpster not far from Odetnim's area. That's where I found that one: crumpled up and tossed aside."
Edgeworth looked at the poster again. He supposed it was a bit wrinkled. But if it were really thrown in a trashcan, how can the investigation be sure it wasn't contaminated? It must have been there for hours.
-"Tossed Poster" added to Organizer-
"I figured the police would be able to confirm or deny whether the saliva belonged to the victim. That's why I brought it here," Cachè finished off his explanation.
Well, almost finished. He still hadn't explained one thing. One very important thing the two men had put off until the very end.
Edgeworth tried Mr. Lite first. "If you saw all this, why didn't you mention it earlier?"
"I didn't think it was important! How could I?" Lite protested. And for one of the few times in his career, Edgeworth was inclined to believe it was true. "All I saw was people pushing a cart. Why would I be suspicious of that? It's not like I knew they had a body under there."
And there it was. The piece of the puzzle Edgeworth still needed to see the whole picture. "Mr. Lite… you keep speaking of those that you saw in general terms. 'People'. 'They'. But who did you see? If it's finally time for this information to be revealed to me, that is." Edgeworth accompanied the last portion of his statement with a pointed glare at Cachè.
But Cachè didn't respond the way Edgeworth had expected. Instead, he turned to Lite. "Well, I guess it is time for the big reveal. Would you like to make the accusatory statement, or shall I?"
Lite smiled for the first time in a while, to Maya's delight. "I'll do it. I've always had a flare for the dramatic."
"Wait, you mean they're in this room with us?" Maya asked, hands up above her shoulders. "Who?"
"It… was…" Lite got ready to point with a mischievous smile, delivering the pose with as much ham as any lawyer or prosecutor. "Lyra Pitch!"
Pitch? Edgeworth hadn't even considered the Odetnim employee yet, but… could it be? The victim was found at Odetnim and transported with Odetnim belongings, and the only suspect with any-
"And! ...Amy Riter!"
To be continued...
Organizer:
Profiles:
Miles Edgeworth
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Description: Me. What else can I say? Currently High Prosecutor for my local district.
Maya Fey
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Description: Once a legal assistant, Miss Fey is a spirit medium set to become the village leader of Kurain. Called me out of the blue for the sake of attending the Expo3 Convention together.
Amy Riter
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Description: Sole writer of the Turnabout Lawyers games at Capsul. Richards was her boss, and very involved in the creation of the game.
Noland Richards
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Description: Owner of Capsul gaming company. Was meant to give a speech at the convention, but never showed up. His body was found strangled in the Odetnim conference room.
Joseph Caché
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Description: A former prosecutor, now works as a PI. Insists on investigating the case for himself, and harbors an almost personal distrust of the legal system.
Allen Lite
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Description: A moderately popular online gamer. Was in the audience at the Odetnim conference when the body was discovered.
Cody Hackins
Age: 10
Gender: Male
Description: A convention attendee. Was seen arguing with the victim before the man died, and was caught snooping backstage at Odetnim's conference.
Lyra Pitch
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Description: A music producer for various games. Mostly works with Odetnim, but helped Capsul with their Turnabout Lawyer games. Went to look for Richards after he didn't show for the conference.
Evidence:
Prosecutor's Badge
Type: Other
Description: My badge. It allows me to do my job, and is to be kept in my pocket at all times.
Map of Convention
Type: Other
Description: Shows all areas available to the public at the convention. Capsul was in room number 13, while Odetnim occupied number 2. Each company is also provided a staff room in the employee only section. It's possible to get from Capsul's staff room to Odetnim's conference room in only a few minutes.
Knot Details
Type: Evidence
Description: The knot tied at the back of the victim's neck. Cannot be adjusted after tying, and very difficult for the victim to have done himself.
Stage Rope
Type: Evidence
Description: The rope used to hang the victim's body from the ceiling. Mostly likely tied by someone other than the victim, and unlikely to be the true murder weapon. Other ropes of this type held promotional posters.
Steel Samurai Banners
Type: Evidence
Description: Hanging from various places around the crime scene. Odetnim was given the rights to the Steel Samurai video game, it seems.
Lite's Testimony
Type: Evidence
Description: The victim's body was found during the Odetnim conference. The body and banners were lowered on cue by Odetnim employees.
Caché's Claims
Type: Evidence
Description: A summary of assertions made in Joseph Caché's testimony, with the claim that Richards and Hackins were seen arguing shortly before the Capsul conference among them. Check
Picture of Richards
Type: Evidence
Description: A picture taken of the victim as his body was lowered towards the crowd. It bears a message that is addressed to me. Check
Richards Speech Notes
Type: Evidence
Description: What the victim was going to say at the Capsul conference he never showed up to. Were found on Hackins person after he stole them from the staff room. Part of the speech was left behind on the desk.
Laptop Strap
Type: Other
Description: A strap that was broken off of a laptop bag. Found near the edge of the stairs in the Capsul conference room, and appears to have no relevance to the case.
Rejection Letter
Type: Evidence
Description: A letter that Global Studios sent to Capsul rejecting their request to be the makers of a Steel Samurai video game.
Hackins's Testimony
Type: Evidence
Description: After being kicked out by the victim, Hackins returned to the Capsul staff room. He heard two people enter, one right after the other. Check
Odetnim's Pushcart
Type: Evidence
Description: A large cart Odetnim brought with them to the convention to move posters. Went missing about an hour before their conference, only to be found by Caché later.
Pitch's Emails
Type: Evidence
Description: Electronic correspondence between Riter and Pitch that discusses Riter's imminent resignation. Check
Tossed Poster
Type: Evidence
Description: A Steel Samurai banner that had been thrown away outside Odetnim's area. It is Caché's theory it was used to hide the victim's body as it was moved.
A/N's: PTV and RJ were mostly responsible for writing this chapter, though Ajani also made a brief visit. Both PTV and RJ would also like to leave notes.
PTV: And here we are, halfway through the end. Things are finally starting to come to a close. I don't know if we'll split the next part in two or give it a straight shot, but we do plan to finish it ASAP. And I don't know if you've noticed, but today is July 1st. It's the two year anniversary of this project being posted online. How far we've come since then!
This chapter was hopefully pretty informative for you. I hope you're beginning to get a sense for how the crime was carried out, because the murder method may not be as complex as, say Bridge to the Turnabout or Turnabout Ablaze, but it's not as straightforward as the last two episodes. The reason for that will be revealed later.
I would type for longer, but I'm worried I'll spoil something if I do. So I'll just take the opportunity to once agains thank The Scollard, our beta, for his support and input. Even when I send him two chapters back to back and demand it be done right away. My thanks to my co's as well and everyone else who's made this project possible. We will be crediting everyone who saw their ideas featured in a later chapter. Now if you don't mind, I need to get the next chapter started...
RJ: Happy second year anniversary to the co-writers on this project and also to our awesome readers! It is getting exciting nearing the of this case, and almost being able to finally reveal who the real killer is. We got to bring back Lite in this chapter, it's been a little while since we have featured him. Really like how this chapter ended with Lite pointing like how they always do in Ace Attorney, (or should I say Turnabout Lawyers? Haha!) So thankful to be a part of this project! It truly is awesome how far this project has come, since it's beginning, and posting new chapters for you all to read is always exciting! Looking forward to writing the next chapter, with this awesome team team of writers!